Digital Minimalism
Cal Newport is a Computer Science Professor at Georgetown university Part 1: Foundations Chapter 1: A lopsided arms race After 2016, there were many questions raised about the role of technology on well-being, on more than just productivity. People were using technology more than they wanted to. Technology started taking away people’s autonomy. The people who are glued to their phones are not weak willed. When we think how we got to a place where we use tech so much, it's very deliberate. It was created by the social media companies. When Facebook was getting ready for its IPO, it had to get its revenues up. The like button became the transformational feature. They re-engineered their feed to be less about what you and your friends were posting and more about social rewards triggering you to check it all the time. Every time you logged in, you got a stream of cumulative social approval indicators. Instead of being a fun thing, it became a drug. Once we got trained for it, we...